Millions of unemployed Americans face the prospect of a huge increase in health insurance costs due to the expiration of the government's COBRA subsidy. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, passed in February, launched a temporary government program to subsidize the cost of buying health insurance through a former employer's plan after a layoff. However, the COBRA subsidy was designed to last no more than nine months for each person who was unemployed. Hundreds of thousands who got this subsidy when it was first made available in March are slated to roll off the program December 1.
